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Comet

Mrkos

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C/1959 X1 (Mrkos)

Mrkos is a comet in the Comet orbit class. Its orbit takes it from 1.25 AU to 223,208.61 AU from the Sun; one orbit takes 37,284,926.3 years. Orbit from the JPL solution of 15 April 2021.

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
91.441 AU
True anomaly
166.56°
Distance from Earth
90.739 AU
As of
25 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Sun Earth — 0.994 AU from the Sun Earth Mrkos — 91.441 AU from the Sun Mrkos
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. Mrkos is 90.739 AU from Earth today (12.6 light-hours).

In the sky

Right ascension
23h 55m 33s
Declination
-20° 56′ 15″
Constellation
Aquarius
Distance from Earth
90.75 AU
Elongation from the Sun
134.09° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the southern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far north.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
111,604.933 AU
Eccentricity
1
Inclination
19.64°
Orbital period
37,284,926.3 years
Perihelion
1.253 AU
Aphelion
223,208.613 AU
Longitude of ascending node
100.62°
Argument of periapsis
84.69°
Epoch · J2000
2437072.5
Orbit class · COM
Comet
Earth MOID · 177.4 LD
0.4558 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
1.307

Orbit quality

Observations used
19
Data arc
297 days
First observed
4 December 1959
Last observed
26 September 1960
Residual RMS
0.2 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Discovery & classification

Also known as 1959 X1

Named

Sources